European Union

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties takes formal action questioning the process that led to an ex-Meta lobbyist landing a top privacy oversight job

Argentinian President Javier Milei's party La Libertad Avanza (LLA) has won the midterm legislative elections with around 41 percent of the vote. The right-wing populist president who has been in office for two years sees this as confirmation of his radical austerity policy. Before the elections, US President Donald Trump had made a billion-dollar aid package aimed at bolstering the peso contingent on a victory for the LLA.

In the tariff dispute between the US and China both sides now say they are close to reaching a deal. Presidents Trump and Xi are scheduled to meet in South Korea on 30 October. On Monday, however, Trump concluded an agreement on rare earths with Japan, which in view of China's recent export restrictions can be seen as a pact against Beijing.

Vilnius Airport had to suspend operations four times last week due to several unidentified objects entering its airspace. According to government sources, they turned out to be helium-filled balloons like those used by meteorologists, coming from Belarus. In recent times such balloons have been used to smuggle cigarettes into the EU. Lithuania has responded by almost completely closing its border with Belarus.

Media investigations have revealed that the Swedish government diverted 5 million kronor (approx. 450,000 euros) from development aid funds to the Somali government to ensure that it would allow it to send Somali migrants back to the country. The money was used to finance three well-paid civil service positions.

After 15 years of construction, the People's Salvation Cathedral, the world's biggest Orthodox church, was consecrated in Bucharest on Sunday. An estimated 200 to 315 million euros went into its construction, but the exact figure is not known even though most of the money came from public funds. A good investment?